Guilty Consciences
by RySenkari
Summary: After the events of "Lost And Found", Zarya's back on the team, but she and Arkayna still have lingering guilt over the things they said and did that led to Zarya leaving. Arkayna visits Zarya in her room, hoping to clear the air and rekindle their friendship.


It had been a difficult couple of days for the Mysticons. Zarya's old sky pirate friend Kitty Boon had taken their sacred Dragon Disk and had sold it to Dreadbane, and Zarya had briefly left the team. She returned in the nick of time to save her fellow Mysticons from their doom, but they were still without the Disk, and now Dreadbane had a piece of the Codex. Now they were all back together and back home, but it would be a difficult task to reclaim the Disk and resume their search for the remaining Codex pieces.

It had been an especially trying ordeal for Zarya, who was glad to be back with her friends but was both physically and emotionally exhausted, and had fallen asleep pretty much the instant her head hit the pillow. As she lay there dreaming, someone entered the room and gently roused her from her slumber.

"Zarya?"

Zarya groaned as her eyes fluttered open.

"I was having a nice dream, what gives...?" she grumbled, looking up to see her fellow Mysticon and the princess of the realm, Arkayna, leaning over her. "Oh, it's you. Uh...what are you doing waking me up so late, is there a mission?"

Arkayna shook her head and sat down at the foot of the bed, looking over at Zarya.

"I'm sorry to wake you, I just... had to know you were okay."

"I'm fine, really..." Zarya groaned, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I'm back on the team and there's no hard feelings. We're cool, princess."

"Well, the thing is..." Arkayna began, a guilty look on her face. "I never got the chance to properly apologize for what I said earlier. What I said to you right before you left."

Zarya thought back to that moment, after Kitty Boon had stolen the Codex. She remembered the guilt she felt, and how desperately she wanted to apologize to her friends, particularly to Arkayna.

"I said you were a disgrace to the Mysticons, and...and I'm really, really sorry," said Arkayna, her voice quivering, almost as if she was about to cry.

"Look, Arkayna, it's okay-"

"No, it's not okay! Zarya, I didn't mean any of that... and I know how deeply what I said hurt you. I could see it on your face."

Arkayna was right, her remarks had deeply hurt Zarya. Even though the two had had plenty of arguments since becoming Mysticons, Arkayna had never said something quite that hurtful to her before, and it was one of the main things that drove her to quit the team, that and Piper turning her back on her as well.

But in the time that Zarya had spent cooling down and processing her emotions, she'd realized why Arkayna had said what she'd said, and didn't hold it against her, which is why she hadn't brought it up before.

"That _was_ harsh, but I'm over it now," said Zarya, trying to give the princess a reassuring smile.

"But I'm not," Arkayna replied, reaching over and placing a hand on Zarya's. "What I said was cruel and vindictive and hurtful. I was a monster."

"Stop it," said Zarya, pulling her hand away. "Stop feeling guilty about something you said in the heat of the moment. I've said some hurtful things too, and anyway...I walked away from the team. I caused you guys to lose the Disk. So...I kind of deserved it."

Arkayna shook her head and tried to take Zarya's hand again, but now Zarya was holding both arms close to herself, and Arkayna could see the guilt in her friend's eyes.

"I won't make excuses for what I said, but...in that moment, when I realized we'd lost the Disk, I... I thought about my parents...and how that Disk is the only way we're going to be able to bring them back. When we lost the Disk, it was like watching them get turned into statues all over again."

Now Zarya was feeling even more guilty, and Arkayna let out a small gasp, realizing she was making her friend feel worse. Zarya sensed her friend's guilt, and reached a hand out toward her again, touching her shoulder.

"Hey... no one knows better than me how it feels to lose your parents. I'd give anything to get even a small chance of getting them back, so I know how much that Disk means to you and I know why you blew up at me. So don't apologize for that. I promise...I'll fight with everything I have to get that Disk back and I won't give up until your mom and dad are safe and sound. I promise, Arkayna."

Arkayna felt a single tear roll down her cheek as she felt the warmth of Zarya's empathy and understanding. She reached up and took Zarya's hand in both of hers, and this time she didn't pull away.

"And it was my fault that we lost it," said Zarya, looking down.

"No," Arkayna replied, squeezing Zarya's hand. "Don't ever say that again."

"But it's true! If I hadn't trusted Kitty, if I hadn't smashed the data you guys took from her-"

"She was your best friend. You knew her for years and I can't even begin to imagine what the two of you went through together. I couldn't see that before, through all the hatred I had for sky pirates, but now I do. All the time I spent mistrusting her and I couldn't step back for one moment to think about how you might feel. You've known her a lot longer than you've known me, and you believed in her because you had a good reason to believe in her. You're loyal, Zarya, and I admire that in you."

Zarya smiled for a moment, then looked away again.

"I wasn't loyal to the Mysticons."

"And I wasn't loyal to you. I went behind your back to swipe that data, and I expected you to go along with it even though I should've known how much you cared for Kitty."

Zarya let out a sigh.

"We both messed up," she said, her voice lined with sadness. "I... I thought I could trust Kitty. I thought even though she was still a sky pirate, that she was still a good person."

"...maybe she still is."

"She sold us out...to Dreadbane, someone who wants to enslave and destroy the entire realm," said Zarya, clenching one hand while the hand still being held by Arkayna began to tremble. "That's...that's not the Kitty Boon I know. That's...not the Kitty Boon I called my friend."

"Then...something must have happened to change her," said Arkayna. "Just like I changed when I saw my parents turned into statues...into the kind of person who could lash out so hurtfully at a good friend."

Zarya nodded, and shed a tear of her own.

"You're right, maybe my friend is still there somewhere... but I still owe her one."

"Get in line," said Arkayna with a smirk. "I already told her it's not over between us."

"Guess we'll have to see who gets to her first, princess!" said Zarya confidently.

Arkayna nodded, and finally released Zarya's hand.

"So, are we okay now?" asked Arkayna, reaching up to wipe the tear from Zarya's cheek at the same time that Zarya reached up to wipe the tear from hers.

"We already were," Zarya replied. "But thanks."

The two girls smiled at each other before Arkayna leaned forward to give her friend a hug. Zarya hesitated for a moment, but then went ahead and extended her arms to share a mutual embrace with her fellow Mysticon. The two held each other tightly for longer than either one of them expected to, enjoying the warmth they found in each other's arms.

"You're an amazing Mysticon," said Arkayna, "and I don't ever want to go into battle without you again."

"And you're a pretty good leader," said Zarya. "But that doesn't mean I won't go rogue from time to time."

"You wouldn't be Zarya Moonwolf if you didn't."

The two ended their hug, and Arkayna stood up from the bed, her guilt over what she'd said to Zarya on that terrible day now completely lifted. They exchanged one more grateful smile before Zarya let out a loud yawn, indicating that she wanted to get back to her rest.

"Right," said Arkayna, nodding. "I'd better let you get your sleep if you're gonna be at your best in battle tomorrow."

"And you'd better get to bed too, isn't it kind of late for a princess to be up?" asked Zarya with a smirk.

"Well, that's part of the perks of being a princess, you get to set your own bedtime. But yes, I suppose I do need my beauty sleep..."

"Heck yeah ya do," Zarya snarked. Arkayna gave her an exaggerated glare before exiting the room. _You know I couldn't resist after you set me up like that!_

Zarya laid her head back down on the pillow and curled up beneath the sheets, letting her exhaustion overtake her once more. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Arkayna really hadn't needed to apologize, but Zarya felt good to have heard it, and glad that she was able to get her own guilty feelings off her chest. Now the Mysticons could truly concentrate on recovering the Dragon Disk and completing the Codex.

And as Zarya closed her eyes, she hoped she'd be able to finish the other mission she'd started before Arkayna had interrupted her.

 _Let's see if I can finish saving that princess..._ thought Zarya, slipping back into dreamworld once more.


End file.
